Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 340 Cao Sheng Behind the Glory

Huizhou Teachers College.

Despite the turbulent events and changing news, the campus remains quiet during the summer break, bathed in the blazing sun.

The sound of cicadas could be heard from time to time.

In a teacher's dormitory, Cao Sheng sat in front of his computer, intently typing away. Although the dormitory was simple, he had installed air conditioning, making it quite cool.

In such hot weather, it's actually easier to concentrate on writing in an air-conditioned room than in other seasons, because the campus is quieter under the heat.

He's currently working on "The Legend of the Primordial Era," and he's unaware of the unexpected success of "Ong-Bak" in the US.

He spent the entire afternoon typing, his phone habitually on silent mode.

It wasn't until late afternoon, after finishing the second chapter of the afternoon, that he picked up his phone and discovered dozens of missed calls and a bunch of unread text messages.

"Huh? So many people are looking for me? What happened this time?"

Seeing dozens of missed calls, he muttered to himself in confusion.

Then, among a bunch of missed text messages, I found the answer.

"Congratulations, old classmate! You're still amazing! You managed to get such high box office returns in the US, that's incredible!"

"Cao Sheng! Congratulations! Do you have tickets to 'Ong-Bak'? Could you give me a couple?"

"Hey buddy! Now I know why you don't usually like to brag, because you really are awesome! Quietly, you've had another movie that's a box office hit, and it's a huge success in the US too. Can you get any more awesome?"

"Senior! You're my idol! Ong-Bak was so good! By the way, did you get a share of the box office revenue for this movie? How much did you earn from it?"

……

All the information I randomly clicked on pointed to the movie "Ong-Bak".

Did Ong-Bak become a box office hit in the United States?

Cao Sheng was a little surprised.

He never expected that the film's box office would one day turn around.

Is this movie good or not? According to his taste, it is good.

The action scenes were spectacular, and what's rare is that such a crazy movie also managed to intersperse quite a few comedic moments.

Moreover, the main plot of this film—the recovery of the stolen Buddha head—involves issues of faith.

This kind of storyline is rare in the film and television industry.

This should be quite novel for many viewers.

Especially in modern society, many people have lost their faith. The protagonist in this movie is willing to risk his life to find the stolen Buddha head, which will not only surprise the audience, but also make many viewers reflect on whether it is worth risking their lives for their faith.
An action movie that can surprise and provoke reflection in the audience is naturally a rare find.

but……

As an online novelist, Cao Sheng has seen many novels that are critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.

I've also seen some movies that were critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.

Take Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" as an example. When it was released, most viewers couldn't understand it, so it received very poor reviews and even worse box office results. It wasn't until many years later that its reputation gradually turned around, but by then it had nothing to do with box office performance.

For example, "The Sword and the City," hailed as the pinnacle of Chinese-language film dialogue, not only boasts excellent lines but also outstanding action scenes. Wang Wu's swordsmanship and fist techniques are beautiful, and Tan Sitong's heroic sacrifice is also very moving. However, it flopped at the box office upon release, and it wasn't until many years later that its reputation gradually turned around.

and many more.

Therefore, Cao Sheng had long understood that the quality of a work does not necessarily have a positive correlation with its final box office performance.

A good movie might become a huge hit.

Even a bad movie can have amazing box office results.

Cao Sheng has been watching the recent box office performance of "Ong-Bak" poorly in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and has been receiving negative news and public opinion. He has gradually come to accept the reality of the film's poor performance.

He even reflected on the various factors that contributed to the film's box office failure.

For example, Zhao Wenzhuo's box office appeal is insufficient.

For example, the market for Chinese-language action films has been shrinking in recent years.

For example, as the weather gets hotter, many viewers don't want to go to the cinema.

For example, the cast of Ong-Bak is not impressive enough. Apart from Zhao Wenzhuo, most of the main actors are foreign actors who are unfamiliar to domestic audiences.

and many more.

He had already come up with a whole host of reasons for the film's box office failure, but who would have thought that the film's box office would actually turn around?

And it was the US that reversed the situation first?
Looking at a bunch of text messages congratulating him on the box office success of "Ong-Bak," a sentence inexplicably flashed through Cao Sheng's mind: The American film market is full of fools and rich people, come quickly.

If people over there aren't so foolish and rich, then why is it that the same movie doesn't appeal to audiences in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, but only to audiences in the United States?
Suddenly, he saw a text message from Zhao Wenzhuo.

"Mr. Cao! Thank you so much! I called you several times, but you didn't answer. I'm thanking you in this text message first. I'll call you again this evening, and I hope you can answer. Thank you! Thank you!"

The content of this text message made Cao Sheng smile slightly.

Actually, recently, the box office performance of "Ong-Bak" has not been ideal. He occasionally thinks about it and always feels a little guilty towards Zhao Wenzhuo.

Because Zhao Wenzhuo has done a lot for him in the past two years.

Putting everything else aside, Zhao Wenzhuo has sent him dozens of kung fu instruction videos in the past two years, and he always treats him with great respect whenever they talk on the phone.

As a result, his response to Zhao Wenzhuo with "Ong-Bak" was a box office failure, which felt more like revenge than a return.

It made him quite embarrassed.

This even reminded him of a common viewer's opinion on the TV series "The Greed of Man": Ding Hai's act of repaying a debt of gratitude resulted in the destruction of his family, while his act of revenge was limited to a few words.

"The Greed of Man" is a very old TV series.

However, when it was released, it caused a sensation, drawing huge crowds to the streets.

The main villain in this movie, Ting Hai, has a thought process that is very different from normal.

He is a typical example of someone who is simple-minded but physically strong.

This villain has many amazing qualities.

For example, when he wanted to repay a debt of gratitude, the family he was repaying the debt to suffered a devastating loss of life.

As for those he wanted revenge against, as long as they apologized to him, he would magnanimously wave his hand and let bygones be bygones.

It's hard to comment.

Recently, Cao Sheng has been wondering if he was possessed by Ding Xie when he was repaying Zhao Wenzhuo.

What was meant to be a return gift ended up having the effect of revenge.

Fortunately, Ong-Bak's box office performance turned around in the United States, otherwise he would have been too embarrassed to answer Zhao Wenzhuo's calls again.

After putting down his phone, Cao Sheng went online to search for the box office performance of "Ong-Bak" in the United States.

There are already related news reports online.

For example: "Ong-Bak is a hit abroad but not in China; its box office performance is poor in China but soars in the United States!"

"Is 'Ong-Bak' Zhongyuan Yidianhui's Waterloo? No! It's yet another testament to Zhongyuan Yidianhui's strength!"

"Zhao Wenzhuo's comeback film, 'Ong-Bak,' has smashed through the US market!"

"Chinese people don't understand the charm of Xu Ke, Zhongyuan Yidianhui, and Zhao Wenzhuo, but Americans do!"

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui truly deserves the title of the number one screenwriter for Chinese-language films!"

……

Cao Sheng looked at the pile of news headlines that came up with his casual online search and couldn't help but chuckle. He felt that domestic media always exaggerated when praising people.

Of course, they never hold back when it comes to stepping on people.

They always like to go to two extremes: either elevating people to a pedestal or dragging them into the abyss.

He casually clicked on a few news articles, glanced at them quickly, and got a general understanding of the situation.

It turns out that "Ong-Bak" has already grossed $1300 million in the US in just over ten days, and the scale of its release has been continuously expanded.

From initially showing on a few dozen screens, it has expanded to 520 screens.

Therefore, it is foreseeable that the film's box office figures in the United States will continue to grow significantly.

$1300 million doesn't seem like much.

But in this era, that's already a lot for Chinese-language films.

Many Chinese-language films, after their release, fail to gross a total of 1000 million RMB.

The box office of Ong-Bak in the United States has exceeded $1300 million.

Cao Sheng shut down his computer, picked up his phone and keys, got up and went out to the cafeteria for dinner.

It was still very hot outside at this time.

The campus was sparsely populated during the holiday.

Most of the cafeteria's food stalls were closed, with only the stir-fry stall open to the public.

This is because the school cafeteria has been contracted out. The contractor, adhering to the principle that even a small profit is still a profit, opened a stir-fry stall even during the summer vacation in an attempt to make some money.

There were very few people in the cafeteria.

Cao Sheng ordered a hot pot with pork, Mapo tofu, and a tomato and egg soup, waiting for the chef behind the window to cook it for him on the spot.

While he was waiting for his food, several more students who hadn't gone home for summer vacation arrived at the cafeteria and lined up behind him.

Suddenly, the boy behind him spoke up to him.

Congratulations, senior!

Cao Sheng turned around and saw a smiling face from a stranger. Cao Sheng smiled back and said, "Thank you!"

The stranger's smile widened. "Senior! You must make a lot of money from one movie, right? Why are you eating in the cafeteria? Why don't you eat out?"

Cao Sheng: "It's hot, I'm too lazy to go out."

At this moment, several boys and girls in the back of the line looked at Cao Sheng. One of the girls smiled and interjected, "Cao Sheng! How much money will you make from the movie 'Ong-Bak'? If the box office is high, will you earn more?"

Cao Sheng smiled and shook his head, "I'm just selling a script; the box office performance has little to do with me."

Another boy chimed in, "Really? At least this movie did well at the box office, so you can ask for a lot more script fees next time you sell the script, right?"

This remark drew widespread agreement from the crowd.

Cao Sheng smiled and nodded slightly.

He couldn't be bothered to explain that he had lost interest in writing screenplays.

The reason he wrote so many screenplays before was simply because his novel "The Exquisite Pagoda of Heaven and Earth" needed some original films, and he wrote some screenplays as a side project.

There are very few exceptions.

For example, the scripts for "If You Are the One" and "A World Without Thieves" were not created because of the plot requirements of "The Tower of Heaven and Earth".

"Your food is ready!"

At that moment, the chef inside the window handed out several boxes of food and called out.

Cao Sheng stepped forward, took the food, and ate it at a nearby table.

The food was alright, much better than the communal meals we usually eat in the cafeteria.

Cao Sheng was enjoying his meal when his phone rang.

When he took out his phone, he thought it was Zhao Wenzhuo calling.

He took out his phone and found that it was Jiang Xiaoshuang calling.

"Hey?"

"Congratulations! Another movie of yours has become a hit. How about we celebrate together tonight?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang's voice came from the phone.

Cao Sheng smiled and asked, "How do you plan to celebrate?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang: "Let's have dinner together! By the way, you haven't had dinner yet, have you?"

Cao Sheng: "I'm eating now."

Jiang Xiaoshuang: "Huh? You're eating so early? The sun hasn't even set yet! You..."

Cao Sheng: "The sun hasn't set yet, which means it probably hasn't had dinner yet. It has nothing to do with whether I've eaten or not."

Jiang Xiaoshuang chuckled, "Tch! You've even learned to be cheeky now. How about we grab a late-night snack? You haven't had your late-night snack yet, have you?"

Cao Sheng looked out the window at the setting sun and thought that going out for a late-night snack on such a hot day was a good choice; he could have barbecue and ice-cold beer.

"can."

The two chatted for a few more minutes before ending the call.

A moment later, his phone rang again; this time it was Zhao Wenzhuo calling.

"Hey?"

"Mr. Cao! I finally got through to you. I originally wanted to come to Huizhou as soon as possible to thank you in person, but my agent has already arranged a lot of schedules for me, many of which are related to film promotion. The distribution company hopes that our film's creators will start a second round of promotion, so I'm sorry! I may have to wait until I'm done with this busy period before I can come and thank you in person."

On the phone, Zhao Wenzhuo's tone was very sincere.

Cao Sheng smiled and said, "It's alright! No need! You go ahead with your work, I understand. You don't need to come all this way to thank me in person. You've helped me a lot, haven't you?"

He was referring to the training videos that Zhao Wenzhuo had sent him, which helped him with his writing.

But Zhao Wenzhuo thought he was just being polite.

"No, no! Mr. Cao, once I'm done with this busy period, I must come over to express my gratitude in person. I really will. Otherwise, I'll feel really bad. So, please give me a chance to express my thanks, okay?"

Cao Sheng chuckled, "Alright! Come over when you're not busy! You're always welcome here."

Zhao Wenzhuo: "Okay! Okay! It's settled then. I'll come to see you as soon as I'm done with this busy period."

……

After the call ended, Cao Sheng continued eating the simple meal in front of him.

In the following period, Zhao Wenzhuo, Xu Ke, and others frequently appeared in various media outlets in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Cao Sheng occasionally goes online and sees one or two interviews.

In one of the interview videos, the host asked, "Director Xu! Did you ever imagine that the movie 'Ong-Bak' would be able to achieve such high box office returns in the United States?"

Xu Ke was silent for a few seconds, then forced a smile and shook his head, saying, "To be honest, I really didn't expect this. I originally thought this movie would do well at the box office in mainland China and Hong Kong. As for the box office in the United States... I didn't dare to have any hope. I didn't expect that I was completely wrong!"

Host: "Brother Zhuo! 'Ong-Bak' is not only a box office hit in the US, but its box office in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places is also rising significantly. With such great results, who is the person you want to thank the most? Is it Director Tsui? Or your wife?"

Zhao Wenzhuo smiled broadly, glanced at Xu Ke beside him, and nodded, saying, "First of all, I am very grateful to the director, and secondly, I am most grateful to the screenwriter Zhongyuan Yidianhui."

The host was surprised, "What about your spouse? Is your spouse ranked third? Aren't you afraid she'll be angry if you say that?"

(End of this chapter)